where words become prayer and stories float

Today is the final day of the cleanse for my May group. I have been so touched and inspired by them. I'll share some of their words with you and to celebrate I have some very special recipes from Raw Dogs, a catering company here in Providence that is doing its part in making this world a healthier place for all of us. Jessica has met some of my cleansers at the Farmer's Market here in Providence and they were so happy to sample her raw food while walking past all of the scone and cookie samples that were around.

I am so excited by the words that are coming in today, shared by women who can't believe what can happen in just 10 days!

I am sleeping less at night and feeling much more energetic. The especially good news that I wanted to share with you is that my husband said last night, "I'm so glad I am doing this with you. My perpetual congestion has totally cleared up." Mark has been struggling with this for years and it has really impacted his ability to train for the marathons he loves to run. He figured out on this cleanse that it is the dairy that is causing this. Even though he is an M.D., he never thought our diet could be the culprit since we eat mostly organic and almost entirely unprocessed. Needless to say, he is ecstatic!

I have lost my bloat and I feel so much lighter...yay! I don't own a scale but I definitely think I have slimmed down a bit. This cleanse has opened my eyes and will absolutely change my diet in the future! I'm also, very surprised that I haven't been craving the foods that we eliminated. Day 5 is a turn around day since I am finally feeling better.

Now down 11 lbs. all I can say is WOW, I'm shocked at how, well this worked!!! Everyone @ work wants to know how I did this and they are starting to ask questions & implement some of these healthy ways!! I'm making beans, Gluten-free oatmeal w/apples+raisins w/blue agave, the kids LOVE IT!! So much more to learn, so much more to experience, so many more accomplishments to discover!! NEW, recipes to try!! Learning lots about myself & this feeling of success, But I deserve it!!

It feels great to be thinking and acting so deliberately about food. Something I've neglected a bit lately.

The biggest take-away this time around: think about what I am about to eat or drink before I put it in my mouth. Make a conscious decision to eat it or not. If I do, notice how it tastes. Do I like it? Is it as good as I expected? Am I actually enjoying it? Most important, be mindful, as the Buddhists say.

This has been a phenomenal experience. I finally am feeling energized and happy about it!!

Thank you to my amazing cleansers! Thank you to Jen for creating a tea just for this group, and it is so lovely to sip during this weather even if you aren't fully cleansing. Thank you to Sundance for giving my local cleansers a discount on their services and for joining us in the cleanse. Thank you Jessica for sharing these raw and mouth watering recipes with us.

You can add garlic, shallot, more jalapeno, cayenne pepper, chives or anything else you can imagine to make this soup to your liking.

Spring Rolls with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

Wrapers & Filling:

· 2 Carrots chopped into sticks

· 1 small jicama chopped into sticks

· 1 mango- sliced into strips

· ½ English cucumber chopped into sticks

· 3 large collard leaved cut in half with center vein removed

· salt

· sesame oil

Sauce:

· 1/4 cup Almond butter

· 1/4 cup Tahini

· 1 Tbs raw agave nectar

· 1.5 Tbs Siracha

· ½ inch cube of fresh ginger

· juice of ½ lime

· water from thai coconut as needed

Rub collards with sesame oil and salt to break down collard and give it a dark green color. Roll collard leaves with filling. Blend all sauce ingredients together adding coconut water as needed. Serve rolls with dipping sauce on the side.

Rolls can be tied together with a scallion, chive or green onion to hold longer- this also makes for a nice presentation. Bean sprouts, apples, peppers etc, can be added into filling.